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reflections, opinions, music, and running

Not Because You Have To, Because You Get To

It’s something I lost track of years ago in my struggle to be a professional musician. I was a professional—paid to play, teaching at two different music schools—but was always so afraid of making mistakes and failing that I lost track of what I loved about playing. This piece by Macklemore names exactly the thing that I think I’m still looking for: that feeling of joy in making and creating music, not because I have to but because I get to.

What I couldn’t find in a hotel room, on the road or in Seattle, I found in the middle of nowhere. No reception. Making music not because we had to, but because we got to. I had forgotten how to do that. Not being afraid of the platform we were standing on. Not creating from a place of “don’t fuck up” but creating from a place of “fuck it up.”